Most voters believe Tony Blair must learn to compromise and should not have pushed for a 90-day detention period in the face of a Commons defeat, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today.

The poll suggests that 55% of the electorate - and 51% of Labour supporters - believe that he must find a way of coming to terms with opponents on controversial issues such as public sector reform.

Although 40% of all voters and 47% of Labour backers said he should reassert his authority and stand up for what he believes in, only 20% and 21% respectively support his decision to push ahead with the 90-day proposal even when it faced defeat. The poll also raises questions about the public's support for the legislation, with 46% feeling either that 28 days - the detention period agreed by MPs - was about right, or that even 28 days was too long to hold anyone without charge.

The findings will underline the insistence of backbenchers, in the wake of the rebellion by 49 MPs, that Mr Blair needs to learn to take on criticism.

Some have questioned whether he is capable of doing so. Officials argued this week that there was no need to scale down radical reforms and that the government simply needed to make its case better. It is also clear that ministers hope to push through some changes without new legislation. When Ruth Kelly, the education secretary, published the education white paper a fortnight ago, it became clear that there would be new legislation on the introduction of self-governing trust schools. Now ministers and officials hope such schools will be introduced under existing powers for the creation of city academies.

The survey showed that a majority of the electorate and Labour supporters believe Mr Blair's first parliamentary defeat has lessened his authority over his government, with 22% of all voters saying it had greatly damaged it and 41% believing it had damaged it. The comparable figures for Labour backers were 18% and 38%.

But 42% of Labour voters thought it had not really damaged him at all (compared with 31% of all respondents) and only 12% believed he should stand down as prime minister now.

Overall, only 24% of those surveyed wanted him to step aside immediately, with another 22% arguing he should go in the next couple of years.

Twenty five per cent thought he should serve until just before the next election.

Perhaps surprisingly, 19% of all voters - and 31% of Labour supporters - think he should disavow his promise to resign, and should fight again to win a fourth term.

The figures are broadly similar to those recorded in a Guardian/ICM poll taken just before the party conference in late September. At that stage 13% of Labour supporters wanted him to leave office immediately, 28% hoped he would leave within two years and 30% wanted him to seek another term.

Gordon Brown's allies have made it clear that the chancellor will not move to challenge the prime minister. Issues of loyalty aside, he would be unwilling to inherit a divided party. But nor would he be willing to wait until immediately before the next election.

It is still unclear whether government whips summoned the chancellor back to London from the Middle East for this week's crucial vote, as originally suggested, or whether he decided to return himself, as Blairites have indicated. He told the Daily Telegraph yesterday that he had won over some wavering MPs.

Reports yesterday suggested the government was considering bypassing the Commons by introducing some of the more controversial aspects of its health and education reforms under existing legislation. "It would be very ill-advised for the government to, if you like, sneak through some of the proposed changes," Labour MP Margaret Moran said.

· ICM interviewed a random sample of 511 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 10 November. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.icmresearch.co.uk